10-19-2010, 01:36 PM

Hello, I have an iMac with a core 2 duo processor (recalling from memory) with 2 GB of RAM. It was performing poorly in regard to speed for nearly every action I requested of it. This started about two weeks ago. So, after trying a variety of applications and utiilities I decied to back up all my data and reinstall Tiger OS and then the Leopard OS upgrade software.

Yesterday, the Tiger install took over 10 hours (e.g. time remaining 10 hrs 28 mins...), but it finished up eventually...pretty much when it said it would. This morning I started the Leopard install. Again, estimated time remaining 10 hours plus some. It's going at the speed it said it would...about 6 hours left. By the way, I chose to do a complete reinstall over the drive, not one of the first two options. My thought was let's get a fresh start.

I did the Leopard upgrade about a year after getting the iMac and it took about an hour as I recall. From what I've found on the web one hour is what should be expected. So I'm a little worried about the length of time this is taking.

Is this indicative of a hardware problem? I doubt it's a software problem since I'm going with a clean install. Is it even a problem? I guess I'll find out when it's complete, but if someone has knowledge of what this is an indication of please let me know.

Thanks,
E

10-19-2010, 02:16 PM

I'm no mac expert but to me that doesn't sound right. I would guess either HDD problem or DVD drive. Prob the first as you said it was running slow before the fresh install. I believe there is a hardware test on the install disks that came with the mac. I would prob download a program like disk warrior to run a scan on the hard drive.

10-19-2010, 02:18 PM

10 hours to install OS X is almost a guaranty that something's wrong. I've installed OS X new in less than an hour. This is indicative of a hardware problem. I would start by running a FSCK on the hard drive. Boot the machine with your Tiger DVD and use Disk Utility to repair\check the hard drive. If that checks out OK, run the Apple Hardware Test from the Tiger DVD.

Let us know.

10-19-2010, 02:37 PM

Thanks for the advice...I will do this once it's complete loading Leopard in about 5 hours.

10-19-2010, 04:05 PM

Originally Posted by estew

Thanks for the advice...I will do this once it's complete loading Leopard in about 5 hours.

5 hours is too long for 10.5 "Leopard" as well. Should take less than 2 hours.

- Nick

10-19-2010, 04:54 PM

Boot from the install DVD, and go to Utilities, Disk Utility and run Repair Disk and see what is reported, or if that shows up all okay, then suspect the optical drive is cactus and as iMacs use the minaturised version from a laptop, strongly suspect the optical drive.

Somewhere you have major problems and it is hardware.

10-19-2010, 10:04 PM

Originally Posted by harryb2448

Boot from the install DVD, and go to Utilities, Disk Utility and run Repair Disk and see what is reported, or if that shows up all okay, then suspect the optical drive is cactus and as iMacs use the minaturised version from a laptop, strongly suspect the optical drive.

Somewhere you have major problems and it is hardware.

The Disk Utility tests ran fine. How does one go about testing the optical drive to determine if it's the problem?

10-19-2010, 10:19 PM

I'm not sure the Apple Hardware Test will return anything useful regarding the optical drive. The best way to test that drive may be to hook an external drive to the machine and see if it performs any faster.

10-20-2010, 09:04 AM

Would the optical drive be responsible for a general slow down of other tasks as well? Whether it's iPhoto or FireFox my iMac will sometimes run at normal speeds and then appear to slow down when asked to do too much.

I've been searching for a utility program that will help me determine if the problem is the optical drive before going to spend money on a new drive.

10-20-2010, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by estew

Would the optical drive be responsible for a general slow down of other tasks as well? Whether it's iPhoto or FireFox my iMac will sometimes run at normal speeds and then appear to slow down when asked to do too much.

No. The optical drive will only have an effect on speed when it's actually being used, such as installing the operating system. But if you're noticing slow downs of other tasks as well, mentioned above, that would not be caused by a bad optical drive. Those slow downs may in fact be normal. Your system may need to undergo some house cleaning. For that I suggest running the free OnyX program.

10-23-2010, 05:05 AM

You either have a dying optical drive or a dying hard drive.